Monday, July 27, 2015

Colonel Sanders is out of retirement after 21 years. KFC has given him a cool new 75th anniversary website of his own, in which the Colonel (at six stages of his life) talks about Cuban donkeys, strums a mandolin, and of course fries up some chicken. The animatronics are cute, with SNL alum Daryl Hammond playing the Colonel. Business anniversary tips:1) It's refreshing when the Founder as Great Man is presented with a sense of humor.2) It's fun to have a person or character narrating the corporate timeline. Great work by agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Monday, July 20, 2015

L.L. Bean was founded in 1912 in Freeport, Maine, by Leon
Leonwood Bean, to sell a single product – the “Maine Hunting Shoe.” The company
now has about 5,000 employees, and annual sales of $1.61 billion. Its
headquarters is still in Freeport, Maine, and it is still privately owned. The
main About Us page is Company
Information.

OVERALL GRADE: A

Products/Services: A
minus

The Company
Informationpage looks at first like a raging
bore: long, dense, and with headings that are less than enticing (“Current
Corporate Information,” “Products,” “Manufacturing,” etc.). In fact, however, the
page is great corporate storytelling. It explains what the company does, and
where and why and how. As a series of bullet points this sort of information would
be unreadable. It’s fascinating here because we’re given a backstory (for
example, the reason behind each expansion) and provided with several engaging quotes
from past and present leaders of the company.

One quibble: many people read on their phones, where it’s easy
to be interrupted and to lose one’s place on a very long page. A simple
solution would be to split this page into separate pages for Products,
Manufacturing, etc. – with copious links between pages, so that visitors would
still be guided to read them in a certain sequence. Our Commandment
6 of About Us pages is, “Honor thy visuals.” Shorter pages on a specific
topics could be made even more interesting by including photos from L.L. Bean’s
century-long history.

There are numerous, excellent photos on the timeline, 100
Years and Counting. It’s cleverly compiled so that reading the blurb on
each decade gives a visitor a short company history. The focus is on L.L. Bean,
Inc. – as it should be - but enough national events are listed to set the
context. There’s even an option for customers to share their own L.L. Bean
stories – a great idea. Unfortunately, during our four visits to the site, the
interactive aspect wasn’t working, so we’re not sure we’ve seen all of it.

High marks to the Newsroom
page, which puts company press releases front and center, but has a sidebar,
“As Seen In,” with links to products featured in sources as diverse as Redbook, Elle, and Field & Stream.

A downgrade: Yes, the company commissioned a centennial
anniversary book, entitled Guaranteed to
Last: L.L.Bean's Century of Outfitting America, by Jim Gorman.
(CorporateHistory.net was not involved with it in any way.) Alas, there’s no
reference to it on the history pages. To find it, we had to enter “book” in the
product search box. If you’re still selling your corporate history book, why
not make it easy to find?

Personality: A

The Company
History page is also long, dense, and excellent. It begins as the story of
an outdoorsman with wet feet, and tells how he solved the problem with the
original “Maine Hunting Shoe.” Bean’s early trials and tribulations – 90 of his
original 100 pairs were returned – establish the company’s dedication to
quality and customer satisfaction. This is business history at its best.

Quotes from the founder and from later leaders liven up the
text, as do occasional fascinating factoids. We learn, for example, that by the
1930s, L.L. Bean’s mail-order business comprised more than 70% of the volume of
the Freeport post office, and that the flagship store has no locks, because
it’s open for business 24/7.

The list of awards at the end of the Company
History page would get more attention if it were on a separate page, with
logos, but it’s great to see so many confirmations of L.L. Bean’s status collected
in one place.

In a lovely change from celebrating one’s centennial and
then forgetting about company anniversaries for 10 or 25 years, the Company
History page ends with highlights of L.L. Bean’s centennial year. Here
you’ll find quick bullet-point references to the aforementioned centennial
book, as well as the timeline—but these should be hyperlinked.

The Leadership
page is top-notch. Why? Because the bio of the founder and his three successors
all focus on the values that drive them as leaders of L.L. Bean, and on the
results they achieved there. Even the philanthropic activities and hobbies mentioned
reflect the values of the company: for example, membership in the Audubon Society
and the Nature Conservancy. Our Commandment
3 of About Us pages is, “Reveal thy personality.” We’ve seldom seen that
done better than on L.L. Bean’s site.

Accessibility: A

How many times have you flinched from phoning a company’s Customer
Service line because you were worried that the representative wouldn’t be able
to speak English? L.L. Bean’s Customer
Service page begins with a characteristically forthright note: no matter
how you communicate with the company (there are options for Phone, Call Me,
Chat, Email, and more), you’ll be speaking with a person in Maine: “because
Maine is more than just an address – it’s part of who we are. It’s tough
winters, Yankee ingenuity and a unique character you just won’t find
elsewhere.”

TAKEAWAY

Your company may not have the size or the hundred-hear
history of L.L. Bean, but it’s unique in who founded it, where it’s been, and
where it’s heading. Make your About Us page reflect that uniqueness with great
content, well told.

Does your Web site’s “About Us” section
accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks
we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential
customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for us?),
and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). To talk about your About Us page, contact us!

Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company, although we have been
satisfied customers for years.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Belated kudos to Communication Design Inc., which produced the marketing materials for the Healing History conference hosted by Initiatives of Change USA in Richmond, VA. In CDI's words, "The theme of building bridges became the basis of a cohesive brand identity centered around an iconic illustration of diverse figures working together to support a common cause--crossing a great divide."

The conference coincided with key anniversaries of landmark civil rights events: the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the Civil War, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Given the truly momentous events that have happened since the conference -- the tragedy of Charleston and the removal of the Confederate flag by South Carolina and other states -- the importance of the Healing History effort takes on added urgency.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Dockers, established in 1986, is the division of San
Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. that’s devoted to khakis and casual
accessories. It’s a leading brand of business casual clothing for men and women.
We were curious to look at Dockers because it’s part of a larger company, but
has its own brand. The main About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: C
minus

The biggest flaw in this set of About Us pages is that we
found them via a Google search, and can’t find a link to them on Dockers’ own
site.

The main page has two headings, each with a distinctive
tagline: Our Products (“Well-crafted comfort to help conquer the day,” with
links to pages on size and fit) and Our Company (“A rough and tough work ethic
is deeply rooted in our family tree”). Below these are links to Contact Us and
Careers. It’s a simple, clear layout that works almost as well on a desktop as
on mobile. (In fact, these pages are among the least offensive mobile-friendly
pages we’ve seen, in terms of layout, because the header images are much less
high than wide. Hence on a desktop screen, they don’t fill all of the prime above-the-fold
real estate.)

About
Levi Strauss & Co. has a pithy statement linking the current brand to
the long corporate history of Levi Strauss. One minor glitch: this opening
statement says the first blue jeans were created in 1853. Further down the
page, under “Our Values,” the “Originality” blurb gives the date as 1873. Our Commandment
9 of About Us pages is, “Worship clarity.” An error such as this leaves the
impression that someone isn’t minding the details.

The Timeline (“History
and Heritage”) is good corporate storytelling. It focuses on the long history
of khaki pants at Levi Strauss, then offers nostalgic glimpses of pop culture (Seinfeld) and advertising history (“Nice
pants!”). Haute couture and culture are represented by names such as Alexander
Wang and Vanity Fair. Each timeline entry
has an intriguing headline, a short blurb, and an archival image – all large
enough to see easily. Having done a timeline or two ourselves (such as this one for California’s State Compensation
Insurance Fund) we appreciate the design and content of the Dockers example.

Personality: D

The Timeline is
excellent for showing where the company has been, but not for showing what its
current goals are. No information or links are given for the company’s
leadership. Mentioning Levi-Strauss as a parent company doesn’t fill this gap,
since there are no links to Levi-Strauss’s leadership team, either.

Accessibility: E

The Contact Us page
(accessible via the main About Us page or the Help link in the footer) is elegant
in layout but quite confusing. The options are “Find a Store” or “Get Help.” Clicking
“Get Help” sends us to a page with the
options “Contact Us,” “Send Feedback,” “Find a Store,” or “Top Reads” (a FAQ). But
clicking either “Contact Us” or “Send Feedback” takes us right back to the Contact Uspage. So in fact, the only ways to reach Dockers are
via the 800 number in the footer and the online email form that is (we
eventually noticed) below the fold on the Contact Uspage.

Have a fresh pair of eyes (or two or ten) look at your About
Us pages for obvious errors, including whether those pages can be easily discovered
and whether visitors to the site can contact you easily.

Does your Web site’s “About Us” section
accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks
we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential
customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for
us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). To talk about your About Us
page, contact us!

Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.

Friday, July 3, 2015

1. Match the speaker to the occasion. A rat-a-tat military man may not be the right choice for a roomful of benign trustees at the annual meeting of a co-operative organization. 2. If the bad match is a fait accompli, build a bridge. The speaker made no effort to localize, customize, or otherwise bridge his (supposedly) motivational presentation. No corporate storytelling. No mention of the org's 100+ years of company history and community support. I suspect this fellow didn't make even the most basic inquiries. 3. Never, ever phone it in. Public speakers are actors, performers, professionals. When we step to the podium, it's show time, every time. A loud voice and speed do not equal energy. If we don't project true energy and interest, we shouldn't be speaking. Barreling through a PowerPoint doesn't cut it.

I won't name names because the evening was presented in good faith. But I felt pain as I watched fellow audience members wincing, feigning interest, or snoozing. Best I can say is that Mr. X provided a wake-up call for my next presentation and, I hope, for yours.

CorporateHistory.net can help you turn your company history into an effective and beautiful book, DVD, Web site, keynote speech, or campaign. Whether you want to celebrate a company anniversary, honor a retiring CEO, or strategize your corporate storytelling, CorporateHistory.net can help. We believe organizations suffer when their memory erodes, just as people do. Your institutional memory is a stranded asset until you put it to work. Then it becomes a powerful, cost-effective tool for marketing, community relations, and employee pride.Please visit our website:http://www.corporatehistory.net/